Editorial 2. Generic press releases are unlikely to have much impact. Rather than spending valuable time writing and sending out generic press releases, first consider the types of media outlets that best apply to your target audience. As a hyper-local media outlet, Gower News is bombarded by press releases on a daily basis - many simply do not get used because they are considered largely irrelevant to Gower News readers. When you are ready to communicate a piece of news to a news outlet, first pick up the phone and speak directly to a journalist within your chosen media outlet about your news. By having a conversation with a journalist within the media outlet that best matches your target audience, you are much more likely to find out what exactly the media outlet would like to hear about and when. Armed with this information, you can shape your press release accordingly, and are therefore much more likely to have your news item used by the media outlet you are targeting with your news story. 3. If talking to mainstream media: supply what they need. Again, this comes back to getting in touch directly with relevant journalists and asking them for feedback. Most media outlets have topicrelated journalists. If your news is in response to crime, don’t contact the journalist responsible for the sports column! They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so a good quality photograph to accompany your news story is also quite essential. Don’t forget that most journalists’ time is limited; make their life easy by supplying what they need in an accessible way. Copy should be sent in an email and not just as a PDF.
When it comes to audience size: “It's about relevance, not numbers.” Adam Baker, Blottr.com 18
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